An Italian police operation targeted seven pizzerias, including some famous chains, on Thursday (21) because the restaurants claimed to use fresh products with recognized origins, but did not use them.
All owners were accused of fraud and will have to pay individual fines of up to 18,3 euros (around R$120).
In addition, around 20 kilos of various food products were seized.
Called “Margherita”, the operation involved military personnel from the Department for Agro-Food Protection (RAC) in Turin, Parma, Roma, Salerno and Messina. Despite not disclosing the names of the places investigated, the police reported that they are all “very famous and have a large circulation of people”.
The agents went to the investigated establishments to analyze the veracity and loyalty of the information provided to consumers about the ingredients used in the pizzas.
In some cases, police officers found that the menus presented information about the use of fresh products, but that they were actually frozen. Another point is that pizzerias claimed to use products with protected geographical indication (PGI) or protected designation of origin certification seals (DOP), but in fact they used common products.
The operation also found that there was a lack of information about substances that can cause allergies in the dishes and the lack of possibility of tracking some of the ingredients used in the pizzas. (Handle)
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